Hell Hath No Fury
by NevarDevereaux
Summary: Set post HN and TFOB. The Doctor is not a cruel being, but the punishments he saw fitting for the Family indicate otherwise. A oneshot that offers an explanation as to why. TenMarthaJoanFamily


**I watched Human Nature and Family of Blood. This one shot came to me after watching the end of the two parter. Scary!**

**I make no money from this. Reviews and a love of writing sustain me. Dr Who and all DW characters owned by BBC and Davies.**

The Doctor has faced much evil in his time. Yes, he has emotions, but even I was frightened by his state of mind after the Family decided to draw a target on his back.

There are many things he could have done. He is usually a pacifist, prefering a civil ending to a barbaric one. In this case, his natural, somewhat animal instincts were too powerful for him to ignore. Even I could see it and it frightened me.

Chains made from the heart of a neutron star, vortices, being suspended in time and set upon a field, and being banished to be a fleeting reflection may seem less cruel than the alternative. I said seem. See, in death, everything would have ended. Imagine the most frightening or painful occurance in your life. Now, imagine having to be in that moment forever. There is no release. There is no escape. You have permanent suffering while your mind, body, and soul beg for mercy. There will be none.

The rage stemmed from John Smith. That's right, John Smith. The Doctor was not angry that he had to rewrite his cellular structure and bear the unimaginable torment that process brought. He has suffered much to ensure others would not. He can not bear to see others suffer.

It may seem impossible that a man who loathes unwarranted acts of cruelty could inflict such fates upon the Family. Actually, his despisal for pain and suffering is what fueled his rage.

The Doctor remembered more than he let on about those three months. It took some time for all the pieces to fall into place. Just as he dreamed of his life as the Doctor, while believing he was John Smith, he remembered his life as John Smith after returning to himself.

The memories guaranteed the Family would pay dearly.

I truly thought he would kill them. I had never seen such anger within his beautiful hearts. I admit, he can be snarky and arrogant, but vicious? When I saw what he did, I actually wished he would change his plans and take their lives to spare them the sentences he was imposing upon them.

Too many people were hurt. He had to let others die and suffer to save the masses. His internal turmoil over how many saw the worst of the universe left him no options, there were no alternatives he could see. Of course, he was blinded by emotion, or so I like to think.

Children had armed themselves. They were fighting as men when they should not had had a care in the world. Why should children have to fight?

Joan. She had fallen in love with a lie. He caused her much heartache. Even though he attempted to make amends, he knew she would carry the pain until her last breath escaped her lips. He wounded her for life. She was a good woman and had been an unknowing pawn in a game she could never win.

The temptation of a full life, with love, a family, a _home_, had hurt him. He could only imagine what Joan felt on the inside. That made his emotional upheaval even more violent. He could see the love in her eyes for a man who never existed, but had the same shell as the man she was seeing, who could never love her in return.

There was one part of the equation which made him even more angry. He had allowed himself to place Martha in a living hell. The companion he had sworn to protect was forced to be humiliated and degraded every second of every day for that time. She had never given up and had even gone so far as to be his servant. His _servant_! He had treated her as if she were nothing more than his maid, took her to a world where she was treated as a subhuman, and she was all alone. She had watched the one person who befriended her die. After everything she experienced, she never gave up on him. She pushed through, maintained her control and quick thinking, and saved him, while sacrificing her comfort, her life as she knew it, and even her dignity.

When he thought of the way he had treated her, he felt ashamed. He could never let her see it. How could he apologize for his behavior? There were no words strong enough to convey his remorse.

He could never repay Martha for the three months she suffered., but he could make the Family pay forever. Martha would have to live with the experience for the rest of her life, but the Family would pay long after she was gone. They would pay when everything was gone. When the end of time finally came, they would pay beyond that. If he could not erase the memories of what others had been through, he would make sure the Family had an eternity to regret their actions.

Yes, the Doctor showed a quite human side. It was dark. As I said, even I was frightened by what I saw. It was not until I saw more deeply, I realized, there was a light within the pitch black. The rage he felt was fueled by the most powerful of human emotions, love. The family had attacked others, angering him, yes. When they put him in a position that gave him no option except to leave Martha to the mercy of people who hated her and tortured her, they created the rage. Had Martha not suffered, he may have only killed them or banished them until their life spans ran out of fuel, which would have been a short time. Now, they have eternal life and a lifetime of pain.

He is not completely mad. Martha thinks he does not even notice her. He does, but he knows allowing his defenses to fall could put them both in danger. If he did not care, he would not push the feelings aside.

When he and Martha step into me, I see the five sides to the story. Yes, five: What the Doctor allows Martha to see, what Martha allows the Doctor to see, what the Doctor really feels, what Martha really feels, and the situation devoid of their conscious deceptions.

Even the Doctor forgets I am alive and can seamlessly join their beings. They never even realize I am there. I can not interfere, except for the occassional shock and cheap trick.

**Virtual cookies baked and waiting for reviewers.**


End file.
